They died on what started as a gorgeous August day. By midmorning, six people lay dead inside the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, killed by a gunman who fatally shot himself. Among the dead were three priests as well as the temple president, who attempted to fight off the shooter.

Satwant Singh Kaleka, 65 : He came to America with $100 in his pocket. He died in the temple he helped build. The Sikh Temple of Wisconsin grew from a tiny congregation of about 10 to 15 families who rented the pavilion in Humboldt Park each Sunday in 1992. Kaleka spearheaded the growth of the congregation, which by the late 1990s had moved into an old credit union building on E. Lincoln Ave. and later bought five acres at 7512 S. Howell Ave. in Oak Creek and built the current temple, which opened in July 2007. Kaleka confronted the gunman as he attacked worshippers.

"It was like a second home to him. He was the kind of person who, if he got a call that a bulb was out at 2 a.m., he'd go over to change it."

- His son, Amardeep Kaleka, on his father's devotion to the temple

Prakash Singh, 39: A priest at the temple for six years, he had been reunited with his wife and two children, who had been living in India, just 45 days before the shooting.

Sita Singh, 41: A priest who had moved here from New York City about six months ago to serve the temple while another priest was gone, he was shot and killed along with his older brother, Ranjit Singh.

"He was always asking us, what services could he do?"

- Temple member Charanjiv Singh

Ranjit Singh, 49: His son was seven months old when Ranjit Singh left his home in Delhi, India, and came to the United States, according to a report by NDTV, a New Delhi-based media company. The boy, Gurvinder, hoped to see his father for the first time in 16 years when Singh returned to Delhi in November to celebrate the Indian holiday of Diwali, the station reported. Singh played the tablas, a type of drum, during prayer services at the temple. He worked odd jobs on weekdays, sending what money he could home to his wife and son.

"I first heard it on the news. Then I got a call from my grandfather. He told me that my father was no more."

- His son, Gurvinder Singh

Suveg Singh Khattra, 84: He lived with his family and was known to come to the temple early in the morning and stay through the evening, sometimes as late as 7 p.m. He also was known to provide fellowship at the temple, asking people about their families and offering an uplifting scripture passage.

"He knew some of my relatives. He used to talk about how life has been. He was really happy."

- Manminder Singh Sethi

Paramjit Kaur, 41: The mother of two sons, ages 18 and 20, she was a weekly presence at the temple. She came to pray and to prepare food every Sunday for the shared meal known as Langar.

"She had made the rotis (flatbread) from scratch the night before she died. Along with the last bite of our food that Tuesday came the realization that this was the last meal, made by the hands of our mother, that we will ever eat in our lifetime.

"I want to tell the gunman who took her from me: 'You may have been full of hate, but my mother was full of love. She was an American. And this was not our American dream.' "

- Her son Harpreet Singh Saini, 18, testifying at a Capitol Hill hearing on hate crimes and violent extremism

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